The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Kalanchoe plant, botanically known as Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Simone 2000xe2x80x99.
The new Kalanchoe is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Hinnerup, Denmark. The objective of the breeding program was to create new freely-flowering Kalanchoe cultivars with compact plant habit and excellent postproduction longevity.
The new Kalanchoe originated from a cross made by the Inventor of an unidentified proprietary Kalanchoe blossfeldiana selection, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with the Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cultivar Simone, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,238, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Simone 2000 was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Hinnerup, Denmark.
Asexual reproduction of the new Kalanchoe by terminal cuttings taken at Hinnerup, Denmark, by the Inventor, has shown that the unique features of this new Kalanchoe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Simone 2000 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Simone 2000xe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Simone 2000xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Very large pure white flowers.
2. Upright and compact plant habit.
3. Dark green leaves.
4. Excellent postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Kalanchoe differ primarily from plants of the parents in flower color, plant growth habit, and leaf shape and size.